[IC] One Piece~ The alternative Western story

[Gravislayer]

The world, the joker and the thief

It was an old man with a white beard and an old brown duster who sat on the chair and smoke a thick cigar. He let in wander from his left tip of his mouth to his right as the blue smoke slowly but steadily filled the whole room.
The white walls stood in a huge contrast with the dark brown desk in the back and the pair of black chairs standing on an expensive looking carpet on the group. The chairs were facing each other, only a small table parting them.
On the one chair sat the old man, on the other a small, thick and nervous looking one in an expensive suit.
"You know~"
Said the man in then the suit and reached out to the table as he moved a small figure on it~ they played chess.
"Sending the small fries is never really effective" With that he removed a pawn from the board as his figure beat it.
The old man smiled and quietly moved his figure~ "Unless they are good for a distraction~" The old man stood up squashes out his cigar on the chessboard before walking out. The man in the suit looked at the board.... checkmate.

While on the whole other side of the world a single man stepped out in the open. Bright sunlight shortly blended him even thou a big desperado-hat was placed in his hat, the man was disguised so that no one could see his face and the only thing he wore was a single katana.
He now stood on a balcony, in front of him was a mass of thousands of people all different heritages and look. As soon as the man stepped out on the blacony they muted themselves.
By only raising his hand and forming a fist the whole mass suddenly cheered loudly and screamed "DEATH! DEATH! DEATH!"
The figure went back inside~ "Checkmate" he said in a undefinded voice to no-one particular.

The world of Dahl is splitted into 4 parts~
The wild west~
The wild east~
The wild south~
The wild north~

The wild west is being covered by great white dunes which are made of the celestial blanco~ a kind of element which is draining the power of devils or so it´s said.
People call it the great white~ The heaven´s dunes but despise those pretty names it is the harshest part in the whole world of Dahl~~
Once the desert king Jesse James ruled over it~ It is said that the One Piece~ His treasure~ His will is somewhere hidden in this part of the old but being the most dangerous and filled with with many strange beings and things and covering millions of miles.... it hasn´t been found yet.

The wild north~ from government city which is placed in the middle of all four territories the north is under the tight clutch of the president~ it is full of enforcers and strictly ruled and controlled by the government. Smaller cities and bigger ones are spreading all over the east. Green fields and mountains are making a pretty living for the people there but thanks to the strict rules and harsh laws inner riots aren´t too far off but they are mostly kept down through the presence of the enforcers

The wild south~ Or the no-man´s-land~ This is the bandit´s land, the place for the non-goods~ The place where you go when you have nothing to lose but want to earn anything. No law´s restrict anyone here, the stronger someone gets, the more he has to say. Power~ Might~ Money~ that is what counts here. Some people say that there is a new movement~ someone who is gathering the people who normally act against each other to drive them against the north~
The landscape is many dry steppe with few water sources but when meeting a water source you will also find huge lawless cities where you can get everything you want.

And now we zoom into the east~ The wild east~
The land where everything comes together~ Huge forests~ Wild mountains~ and dry yellow deserts which are ending in huge stepping.
Wherever you go you´ll find something different and so are the rules of the land. The government is sending troops in there but the crime is still a daily thing to deal with here~ bounty hunters who want some easy money are making their money here and the towns are usually run by a mayor who then decides with whom he rather allies~
The parts were really differing but one town is standing out here~

Western town~ the biggest town in the whole east~ and also the home-town of Jesse James, people gather here to find out about him, his will, his fate, his destiny.
Others are here to pay him tribute and some~ Some are here to do whatever they do~

"Chekmate" He yelled from his horse as James "The wild man" Hook stood before the gate of Western town. A small fat guy was holding him off and skipped through a large book and muttered to himself in a undefined tounge.
With a sigh James skimmed looked around.

Western town was a big city~ with over a thousand of people living in it it has many things to offer. From the lusty green fields around of western town which are filled with business, cows and horses to the small river splitting this town in two, towards the high mountains towards the east or the desert in the south~ it all was worth something.
Western town is surrounded by everything possible within a few hours reach by horse and so naturally a place for trading and bartering and people of all kinds.

Sadly this speciem of human infront of James wasn´t a good represenative and like wanting to proof that he looked up to James with an empty and confused look.
"Aeyy~ E´cuse meh sir but i think we don´t have something like this here"
James shook his head and jumped down, pushing the fat man aside and making his way towards the "Chekmate´s Inn" ~
"Oiii sir~ ya can´t go in here so easily" The man yelled after James before he scratched his head and lowered his board ass once again on the bench to "guard" the entrace of Western town~

James entered the inn and found an colourfull and full etablisment~ The whole side opposite to to the entrance was a counter~ one barrel of liquid was placed aside on another and so forming a seemingly wall of barrels~ some had words on them. "Beer", "Whiskey", "wine" and other words could be read on them and some had even more weird liquids in them and depending on that the bartender, an over weighted but friendly looking bald man, walked EVERYTIME to the same barrel and opened the tap to pour something inside the mug...weirdly no one noticed or they all did not care.

On the left was a piano on a small stage where a pale and thin looking maleplayed some relaxing tunes, yet it was nothing particular and nearly vanished into the chatter and talking of the many different groups occupying the tavern.

James slide to a free table far to the right and sat down. Shortly after a women came to him. She wore an wide dress and her face looked way too pale, it was then that James realized that it was paint and that she even had a kiss mouth painted on her lips while a black dot was placed on her right cheek.
He ordered a beer and a whikes and the women gave him a wink and headed off to the bar.
After just a minute the women returned to him and placed down the mug and a shot-glass.
James sniffed on both....and yep....both was something between whiskey and beer...all in all it tasted terrible but it made you forget things....so hell why complain?

James paid a dollar and the women took it with a smile~ Sure the beer and the whiskey cost him 50pence but so she would leave him alone.
Knowing that James took out a piece of paper and looked at it~

"James Hook~
In our both interrest, i making you an offer~
It´s a more ´complicated´ bounty hunt
The target slips easily through anyones hands~
Furthermore it seemed that he is leader of a gang~
I suggest you~ like i already said~ in our both interest~
That you hunt him down~ and that you´ll kill him~

Bring his corpse to the western town depatment as proof~
i suggest a group for this~

The target you may wonder? B. Elliot Eickhoff~
You will get 1000 dollars reward"

Normally James would have ignored the letter but the fact that 200 dollars were already INSIDE it...well that wasn´t too shabby~
The problem was~ James knew the name Elliot Eickhoff~ He was a slippery bastard who acted against the government~ Why? who knows but he attacks their wagons and even the rail road company~ but aside of that`? why was that his problem...but well in the end it all comes down to the money~~~
All in all it lead to one decision~ James spread words of a job which gave one real money and for all who interrested~ well those should come to the "Chekmate´s Inn" in Western-town~

So what did he had to do? He waited paticiently~

[Sableyezer]

The Western town market, always so busy, so full of life…

“...so expensive.” a man in sunglasses and a trench-coat muttered to himself, he was pulling a cart with a half filled white burlap sack in it behind him and smoking a cigarette. “seriously, if the food prices here were any more expensive i’d have to sell my own leg.” Tobias reached inside his coat pocket, pulled out a few bills and looked them over. “25 bucks, huh…” he sighed placing the money back in his pocket. he took a deep breath through his cigarette then removing from his mouth to exhale the smoke. “ I need to make some fast money. hm?” he could hear a couple of merchant muttering to each other. “ Big money? how much?”

“didn't say, but i’m guessing in the hundreds, maybe even thousands.”

“sounds like a scam.”

“no way, i could tell this guy is the real deal. said to meet him at the Checkmate Inn, so you gonna come?”

“I dunno, still sounds like a scam to me.”

That was all he needed to hear. “Well,” Tobias said as he threw his cigarette butt to the ground, pulling a fresh one out of his pocket and lighting it, “looks like i’m heading to the Checkmate Inn.”

[ladyonyx04]

Running for one's life was a pretty simple thing, especially if one was used to the running. Wearing nothing but the clothes she had on that morning, well worn boots made for sneaking and running, and the stetson she had stolen from the corpse of the sheriff, having little to no money- for how was one to earn it if you had always been nothing but another orphan in the street?- and a bag full of the food she had gotten that day, as well as some water, Natalie Jones trailed who knew where keeping her eyes on the open road and checking the progress of the sun. She might not be an astrophogist -atrologist- or have much smarts, but give her a little time and patience and she was a quick study. Heck she only knew how to use the guns she had from watching a show down. She turns her head slightly, hearing in the distance the fall of horse hooves, continuing with her apathetic gait. If she hurried it now, she'd get into trouble. She was pretty sure her face hadn't been caught by a camera, having avoided towns as much as humanely possible, but was also sure her description had been given out. She saw in the distance a town, and decides to head there figuring why not? She continued to walk amicably turning her head hearing about 'Checkmate Inn' and shrugs slightly figuring it was a good a place as any to check the locale out. See if she could get some food somehow. She'd take table scraps and be considered blessed. She followed behind the group who had spoken about the Inn, for although she had some skills with writing and reading as she was taught before that dark day when she lost everything, she hadn't been able to enhance her skill so couldn't tell what said what.
"You followin' us boy?" Demanded one. Boy? Well her hair had been cut short every so often to survive in the heat. And her clothes were too big on her. Add to the fact that she was skinny as a rail and she could forgive the mistaken gender thing.
"No." She answered softly making sure that her voice came out normally even when her 'run' instinct was screaming at her and continued on walking as if to say 'I know where I'm going' even if she didn't.

[CrimsonWarrior55]

Kero Boris stood in front of a large foreboding iron door, which practically screamed 'KEEP OUT', yet oddly enough said 'Welcome, One and All, to the Solar Kingdom'. It was... quite perplexing, but then again, if the rumors about the head of this establishment were true... perplexing was the norm. Banging on the door three times, it took about two seconds for a slot to slide open and two eyes peered out at him "What is it? Who are you? What do you want?" the eyes asked rapidly, not letting Boris answer until it was done. "It's me. Kero Boris. Here to pick up my order" he said, in a irate tone. As a man on a strict schedule, he had no time to deal with these morons. "Ah... Mr. Kero. You bring money?" the eyes asked in a pleasant tone that was clearly a threat. Wasting no time, Boris handed over a wad of cash, at which point the doors instantly opened, allowing him access into a lawless nuthouse.

Behind the doors were two very large men, easily 10 feet tall, who were pushing the doors shut. Both were dressed the same. Red bandanas with the letters B.E. adorned the top of their heads, while there bottoms were clothed in a dark pants. They were shirtless except for a large black vest, unbuttoned like thugs, that had a large silver Gatling gun crisscrossing a silver claymore. "Come Mr. Kero. Please follow me. You order is ready, fufufufufu" A rat-like little fellow with a face like a weasel, appropriately named Weasel, was right at Boris' side instantly, ready to escort him. He was dressed like the guards, but his vest had a simple rapier crossing a revolver, indicating some kind of ranking Boris didn't care about. Directing him through the fort, Boris was disgusted by the filth that ran rampant through this place. He expected much more from a smithy of this much prestige. There were men and women doing whatever they pleased with whoever they pleased everywhere. Gambling, drinking, smoking odd things, and other debauchery. Boris just wanted to get his guns and get out of here.

In what felt like an eternity, Weasel and Boris finally reached the forge. But what he saw did not please him at all. "What the hell is this?" he demanded, picking up the one rifle that was next to his name "I ordered two rifles! Not one." Weasel merely chuckled "Fufufufu... indeed you did, good sir. But you only paid up for one. We tried to tell you, but you were in such a hurry to leave this... what did you call it? A cesspool of filth?" he said, grin nearly splitting his face "I assure you, though. This one rifle will be more than adequate". By now, Boris was red in the face, and not from the sun "ARE YOU KIDDING ME!!" he roared, throwing the gun to the floor "I PAID YOU THREE TIMES THE NORMAL AMOUNT!!".

Carefully picking up the rifle, Weasel's grin remained "Indeed. Three times the normal amount for a single rifle. I suggest you take it. The Boss was willing to craft you this, even after you insulted us. Be grate-" "NO! I demand to see your Boss! Take me to this Dani, and I shall negotiate a new price" Boris declared, pulling a revolver on the word "negotiate". Smile never leaving his face, Weasel, just sighed and shook his head "Alright, if you insist. This way, please" he said, and turned towards the rear of the fort. Following his lead, Boris' glare never left their destination. A large tower that was always basked in sunlight (That might be an alteration from the game). In no time at all, the two were standing in front of another large door, this one made from wood and intricately carved. Standing outside were two more guards, but both seemed to be under the affects of alcohol. Opening the door, Weasel lead Boris in.

The first thought that ran through his head was that this room was damn dark for always being in the sun. Indeed, the bed was covered in shadow, to the point were he couldn't even see the outline of the man that ran this place. But could tell from the shuffling that he was there. "Boss Dani. We appear to have another unsatisfied cus-" "Can it, you piece of shit!" Boris cut off Weasel and took a step forward "Now listen up. I paid you and your gang here, three times the amount I could pay anywhere else, and all I got was one measly rifle! ONE! I paid for two. So I demand two-no. Make it three for wasting my time! Even though I'm sure they're shitty as hell!" he shouted, pointing his gun at the outline he could barely make out now that his eyes started adjusting. Feeling a yanking on his sleeve, he looked over at Weasel "Please, sir. The Boss has a hangover. Could you please not shout. Also, the Boss is a little grumpy when woken up, so it would do you well not to agitate he-" "I DON'T GIVE A FUCK!!" Boris cut in again, this time pointing his pistol at Weasel "Now get your filthy hands off me before-" And a shot rang out in the dark.

His revolver clattering to the ground, Boris screamed as he clutched his hand where there was now a huge smoking hole. "Alright, Fucker, here's what gonna happen" came a voice from the bed. A... woman's voice? "Oop, now you done it" Weasel chuckled, slowing backing away. Looking back to the bed, Boris saw the distinct feminine outline crawl out of bed and move towards him and into the light. "Choice A. You can die for threatening one of my men. Choice B. You can die for insulting us. Choice C. You can die for insulting my work. Or Choice D. You can die for being a dick" the voice listed off the final choice as it's owner stepped into the light. A young woman of about 20-ish, a great tan, and wearing nothing but a bikini. Boris would've found her very attractive if not for two things. The scars riddling her body... and the smile she currently wore. It promised pain. "Um... Mistress. You forgot the choice where he doesn't die" Weasel spoke up. "Huh? Oh, yeah. Choice... what is it? F? D? No, I said D. Ah, fuck it. Choice Pussy. You leave all your money, the beautiful rifle I crafted for you, and you leave with your head still attached. Both of them. I would say your dignity too, but it smells like your leaving that on my floor right now. Also, tell anyone I'm a girl... and well, use your imagination. Just know, it involves pain. Lots and lots of pain. Now choose..."

Boris couldn't get out fast enough, the entire gang's mad laughter following him out as he took one last look at the playful foreboding sign above the doors 'WELCOME... TO BLOODY EVOLUTION'...

[ladyonyx04]

The sounds of horses galloping got closer, and that's when Natalie decided to panic. She didn't want to hang. She reckoned that she had about maybe nineteen years on this planet (its hard to keep track of the years for the seasons ran together so. You either died in the blistering heat or you died of the bitter cold on the streets.) She looked around and found a cart that was by itself, and sneaked through the crowds to hide in the cart slipping under the seats easily because she was so slight, curling into a ball as the horses halted.
"I was certain I saw someone o' her stature comin' into this town." She heard a voice say as if put out. She froze even more hardly daring to breathe. They won't expect me to be here. So I'm fine hiding here. They won't find me. She tried to convince herself but knew from her thuddering heart beat it wasn't working.

She bit her lip as the sound of horse hooves went around the town asking if they saw her. Most had thought she was a boy and was counting on that fact. She almost squealed when the cart jostled as if someone was getting on it, biting her sleeve tight to prevent that from happening shutting her eyes tight.
"We're lookin' for an armed and dangerous girl." She heard some laugh at that. Most still had the backward thinking that a girl could hardly be dangerous. But most of the others gathered around listening to the strangers knew better. "She has black hair and blue eyes." She could hear the murmurs of the people outside. Blue eyes were extremely rare in this harsh climate. The most common eye hue was brown or black. Some said that those with blue eyes came from somewhere with tons of water. Some said they were magic folk. She used both rumors to her advantage on the streets at least a handful of times. Good news? The people would be searching for me and I'm here. So maybe they'll leave sooner. Bad news? Some had seen a person with blue eyes. Now I have to lay low and that sucks. Good thing I am comfertable.